Anthropology Quiz #2

ju/'hoan seasons

Huma (spring rains) Bara (main summer rains) Tobe (autumn) Gum (winter) Gaa (spring season) rainfall concentrated in the summer months

conflict in ju/'hoansi society

egalitarian society - no headmen. territories are not owned by individuals, rather they are owned by groups of people known as k"ausi. usage of n!ores is governed by a principle of reciprocity, which ensures fairness in the usage of resources belonging to different n!ores.

flats

intermediate in elevation between the dunes and the melapo are plains of buff-to-white compacted sands. the flats provide extensive groves of Grewia berry bushes, the vegetable ivory palm with its tasty fruit and a number of other edible species

reciprocal exchanges

involve mutual giving and receiving among people of equal status in which there is: (1) no need for immediate return, (2) no systematic calculation of the value of the services and products exchanged, and (3) an overt denial that a balance is being calculated or that a balance must come out even.

fighting

involves the exchange of blows without the use of weapons takes on the form of hand-to-hand combat involving wrestling and hitting at close quarters rather than fisticuffs usually occur between men over women and end with the parties involved joking with each other, followed by the separation of the parties to sort out their feelings before coming back together again

marriage by capture ceremony

involves the mock forcible carrying of the girl from her parent's hut to a specially built marriage hut. in the process, the girl struggles physically and tries to avoid being married off beneath the ritual of marriage lies undertones of the elements of genuine conflict and the girl's assertion of her independence and authority within the marriage. since the first marriages are arranged by parents, marriage by capture ceremony serves as a 'platform' for the girl to 'veto' the marriage if she is unhappy with the choice of mate

Herero

largest number of non-Ju in the Dobe area today. southwestern Bantu-speakers who have long history in the territory of Namibia. during the tragic war of 1904-1907, thousands of Herero were slaughtered by the German

Dobe subsistence

mostly gathering 75% gathered foods, 25% grains and milk

characteristics of egalitarian societies

small scale shared equal for men/women gender equality, no politicians, judges, etc. no law in the way we would think of it (no constitution etc.)

rainy season villages

these are located near major seasonal water and food sources. they are highly variable in size (from 3 to 20 huts) and are usually occupied for periods of three weeks to three months. the site is casually cleared, and the huts are hastily constructed, though thickly thatched in order to provide shelter from the rains

NOTE

water scarcity a major problem in the Kalahari desert, the ju rely on a hierarchy of water sources ranked in order of abundance

hierarchy of water sources for the Ju

1) the permanent waterholes found in the main river bottoms where the bedrock is exposed. most of these waterholes are natural, but all have been improved and maintained either by the San themselves, or more recently, by the Blacks 2) the seasonal waters that exist for one to six months a year: these are found in the melapo between the dunes, where local drainage patterns produce a depression. these vary from small depressions 15 feet in diameter and ankle deep, holding water for a few weeks after heavy rains, to great ponds up to 300 feet long 3) the small quantities of water found in the hollow interiors of mongongo and other trees 4) species of water bearing root, which may be dug up and used in emergencies

eating Christmas in the Kalahari

Lee spent most of December searching for the 'largest, meatiest ox that money could buy' and finally bought a massive ox that he calculated would yield sufficient meat to feed everyone who would be at the feast Lee expected the news of his purchase to be received with utmost gratitude but he was instead taunted and poked fun at by everyone for choosing a 'bag of bones'. he was even told that his choice of an ox was going to ruin the Christmas feat. Lee was frustrated but on the day of the feast when the ox was butchered, it was revealed that the Ju's previous reactions were all a collaborative effort of a joke played on lee revealed to be a custom. through this custom, equality is maintained among the Ju through the enforcement of humility, so that no one is given the chance to think of him/herself as superior to the others - and this sustains the sharing way of life of the Ju

Ecological change

The Hereros and Tswana made some ecological changes such as deepening wells, thus resulting in cleaner and abundant water supply. However, their cattle had an adverse effect on water supply vegetation, insect life and even stole human clothin

N!ai

This first part of the film is N!ai's early years, living a nomadic hunting and gathering life among the Ju/wasi group of the !Kung in North Eastern Namibia in the 1950s. She describes her knowledge of the bush, her dissatisfaction with her husband whom she married when she was eleven, and her eventual acceptance of him many years later after he had become a healer. She tells of her feelings as a girl growing breasts, and her fears of childbirth. The excellence of Marshall's photography (he studied under Weston) and the eloquence of N!ai's narration make this section of the film fascinating even for those with little anthropological interest in Africa. In the second part of the film, N!ai describes the situation of the !Kung in 1978. They are now restricted to a government reserve much smaller than their original land. N!ai and her family are among the !Kung who live in a sedentary government camp. They exist on maize meal and earnings from tourists who come to take their pictures. Men still try to hunt, but without a nomadic lifestyle, they now need horses to find game. Officials say that hunting with horses damages wildlife and !Kung caught using horses for hunting are arrested. The only substantial cash income comes from young men who are recruited into the South African army. White army personnel say the !Kung respect them; the !Kung say they are afraid and they need the food and money. With nothing to do, nothing to contribute, tensions mount; insecurity breeds jealousy. Because of her fame through earlier Marshall films and because of her beauty, N!ai is often paid by those wishing to take her picture. Others are jealous of her possessions, accusing her daughter of whoring with a stranger. This film is political and will provoke discussion wherever it is shown. At the end of the film, N!ai sits in front of her shack, singing, asking outsiders to leave her alone. `Death,' she sings, `is dancing me ragged.'

joking/avoidance relationship

a woman jokes with her sister but respects her brothers. she jokes with her grandparents and grandchildren and respects her parents and children. a man jokes with his brothers but respects his sisters. he jokes with his grandparents and grandchildren but respects his parents and children. both genders 'avoid/respect' aunts and uncles. the most heavily weighted avoidance relations occur between a man and his mother in law and between a woman and her father in law

Kinship 1

also known as bilateral or Inuit (Eskimo) nuclear family is the center, extended family on the sides focused on nuclear family so other family members called father's father, mother's father, father's mother, mother's mother, etc. uncles,aunts and cousins are referred to as father's brother, mother's brother, brother's son, etc. everything is written in relation to the nuclear family the main person is known as 'ego' - ego's own generation, ego's grandparent's generation, etc. the ju people have terms to call their nuclear family to separate them from their collateral relatives

traditionalists

appear to be determined in focusing exclusively on the ju/'hoansi's foraging behavior, "either to build models of the evolution of human behavior, or to perpetuate the romantic image of the 'noble savage' in Lee's own words. They adopt the 'science as business as usual attitude' and disregard changing phenomena and problems in response to this Lee points out that 'the Ju/'hoansi didn't stop being a people when the last hunter laid down his bow and picked up a transistor radio'

ju/'hoan

are not missing links, they are as human as we are and their histories are as long as the histories of any other human group. nowhere in the world will we find foragers today living in Pleistocene conditions, that is, as hunters living in a world of hunters

security of ju/'hoan life

attributable mainly to the fact that vegetable food and not meat forms the mainstay of their diet. plant foods are abundant, locally available and predictable; game animals in contrast, are scarce and unpredictable

Herero

being the largest group of non-!Kung in the Dobe area, Herero are excellent pastoralists who also practiced agriculture. they practiced a system of double descent with an individual belonging to both his or her parents' lineages, with women enjoying higher status in the 1880s, the German colonists arrived and encroached upon the Herero's lands despite the latter's powerful and populous presence in the southwest Africa. In 1940, the Herero arose and killed some of the colonists, allowing the Germans to use this as a pretext for an all-out war of extermination. After 1905, the Herero survivors rebuilt their herds, whose descendants form the bulk of the Hereros living in the Dobe area now wished to gain sovereignty/control over their situation

sovereignty

being the strongest authority/gaining a measure of independence control your own destiny if you have sovereignty you control your own destiny

leveling

bucket of crabs one crab crawls to the top and the rest of the crabs pull that one down a way to make everyone equal/egalitarian

social organization of care

caregiving is not linked to gender but only to adult children. it was seen as a personal quality and not a gendered one, hence every adult child took care of the elderly. sometimes the name relationship was invoked so taht children with the same name as the elderly are regarded as grandchildren and available to help. caregiving thus extended beyond the nuclear family. this enmeshment in a network of caregiving was available to all elderly regardless of their health which helped to ease the burden of care greatly.

NOTE

despite the popular stereotypes, the ju do not have to work very hard to make a living. in assuming that their life must be a constant struggle for existence, we succumb to the ethnocentric notions that place our own Western adaptation at the pinnacle of success and make all others second or third best. judged by these standards, the ju are bound to fail. but judged on their own terms, they do pretty well for themselves

intergroup alliance and conflict

discussions of potential marriage have come packaged with the unspoken understanding of potential threats and danger. a conflict may break out as a result of broken promises or a dispute over rights to the same woman, and may sometimes end in fatal results to avoid such violence, ju/'hoansi girls were married off at a young age to avoid the possibilities of rivals staking their claim before they became sexually active

four habitats of the Ju

dunes, flats, melapo and hardpan river valleys

narratives of neglect and abandonment

elders frequently complained about their neglected state in lengthy tales despite evidence that they are well integrated into social life and embedded in caregiving networks. it seems that the complaints were not expression of discontentment at a real state of affairs, but rather, serves to restate the social contract of caregiving obligations by allowing the audience to imagine the dire scene of family neglect through a dramatic story.

dunes

fixed by vegetation unlike the moving dunes of the Namib and southern Kalahari deserts

wendigo

host that enters your body and takes you over mood changes the way you view the world changes begin to see the people around you as edible animals

reasons disputes arise

improper hxaro gift exchange, improper meat distribution and laziness or stinginess

intermarriages

in 1968, the phenomenon of Ju women marrying Herero and Tswana men arose. However, they face problems such as status differences and the translation between the norms of two kinship systems. From the Herero's perspective, marrying a Ju woman had economic advantages in addition to them being well known as good lovers

gender differences and hierarchy

in ju/'hoansi egalitarianism encompasses relations between gender, marriage and sexuality. marital bliss and a good sex life seem to characterize most unions. while arranged marriages and marriage by capture rituals seem to put women on a lower hierarchy compared to man, women are able to assert themselves through their own resistance and struggles should they be unhappy with their parent's choice of mate for them

talking

involves threats and verbal abuse without getting physical. admonition - joking, giving people a hard time ridicule ostracism

predators

ju still have to compete with natural predators for food/resources

sexuality

ju/'hoansi have an open and almost uninhibited attitude towards sex, and this orientation is inculcated in children from youth. this is exemplified by the involvement of sexual play in the socialization process homosexuality and bisexuality, while uncommon, is not considered deviant sex is embraced in the Ju culture, and the goal of sex is to achieve orgasm. rape/sexual assault used to be uncommon but is on the rise partners are strictly faithful to one another

entitlement

ju/'hoansi treat care for the elderly as an unquestioned right. taking care of the elderly was not seen as an extra burden but part of their daily duty such as obtaining food. it is thus rare for an elderly person to express appreciation or the desire to live alone

what Lee's work foraging showed him

life among these people was precarious, a constant struggle for existence

shabeens

little entrepreneurial endeavors exist in these villages mostly alcohol/bars because there is nothing to do, drinking goes on all the time encouraged by the government, they see it as local, financial endeavors dangerous for kids because they were dealing with drunks

arranged marriages

marriage is an issue that parents are concerned about soon after a child's birth. upon the identification of a prospective partner, a long period of gift exchanges occurs stern rules for eligibility of a marriage partner. incest taboos. the traditional age of marriages are: girls 12-16 boys 18-25, however the age has been increasing over the years

diet of the ju/'hoan

meat and mongongo nuts comprised toe hmajor part of their diet, contributing 31 and 28 percent of their weight respectively. about 20 species of roots, melons, gums, bulbs, and dried fruits, including some mongongo fruit, made up the remaining 41 percent of the diet. in all, the work of the ju/'hoansi made available a daily ration of 2355 calories of food energy and 96.3 grams of protein to each person

polygamy, polyandry and remarriage

monogamy is the default in the ju/'hoansi culture polygamy is pretty uncommon, with polyandry even less so. wives in general vehemently oppose the entry of a second wife, out of sexual jealousy. remarriages are common given the realities of divorce and death, and these unions are observed by Lee to be joyous and satisfying. there is a higher rate of wives who take on a younger husband, which lee attributes to the successes of such a union to be a result of the women being spared the arduous tasks of childbearing and motherhood

complaint discourse

much of the ju/'hoansi's talk verges on argument and complaints. it seems that for the ju/'hoansi, complaining serves as an important leveling device, a medium for expressing more complex feelings, and as a public exhortation that reinforces social values such as warning against hoarding. some may engage in 'competitive complaining' as a way to mark their continued presence in the world. it is, however not particular to elders but may be invoked by everyone

dry season villages

occupied for 3-6 months located near permanent water sources because of their accessibility and their long duration. well constructed etc.

Swara and The Sarwa

one area of potential tension in the Black-San marriages is the relationship between the husband and the male relatives of the wife, often resulting in open conflicts. The Herero and Tswana use a special term, swara to apply to brothers-in-law created by intermarriages. this term is associated with behaviors with extreme cordiality, which is often out of character for Ju/'hoan brothers in law

gathering and carrying

only a single tool, the digging stick, is used in gathering. carrying, on the other hand, involves the use of several ingenious multipurpose containers and an elaborate body of knowledge

cattle post villages

solid, carefully constructed huts, usually built on sites close to a Herero or Tswana village. the size of these villages is usually 1-20 huts, but common to all is a crescent shaped layout around a central cattle kraal, with hut mouths facing the cattle compound rather than each other

ju/'hoansi's view of their own history

the dobe san were convinced that their ancestors were a distinct people who lived on their own by hunting and gathering whites who came first and the blacks after

ethnoarchaeology

the foraging behavior of living people is observed and then the material residues of that behavior are plotted. the residues produced by known behaviors are then compared with archaeological residues for which the behaviors are not known

hxaro

the ju/'hoan system of gift exchange. contributes most to maintinaing harmony within the ju/'hoansi. the gift exchange does not have to occur at the same time and need not be of the same value. the focus of it is to build social relations, and it is the difference in the time of exchange and the value of the gift that enables the maintenance of social relations. in the long-run, the value of the goods exchanged has to balance out, thus keeping them looking forward to the next exchange hxaro occurs more intensely during major gatherings when people who have not met in a long time would close their past transactions and begin new ones hxaro contributes to maintaining ecological balance and ensuring thtat the ju/'hoansi have sufficient food in each session individuals hxaro but communities don't delayed form of nonequivalent gift exchange really important because it gets us to talking about reciprocity, their society compared to our society, etc. gift economy exacts goods lubricates social relations/creates good social relations with people creates good ecological balance primary way of keeping good relationships with people in your kin group trading weedwork arrows/knives, European cookware, anything material, etc. hxaro networks shrink with age wealth is measured by the Hxaro network and the frequency of Hxaro

transition to farming and herding

the organization of farming and herding have real contradictions with organization and ideology of foraging. the most important of this is the contradiction between the sharing and the saving. in the hunting and gathering life, shared generalized reciprocity is central. on the other hand, saving or husbandry of resources is equally central to the farming and herding way of life

ju/'hoan rule for allocating ownership of meat from a kill

the owner of the arrow is the owner of the meat men circulate arrows widely in the hxaro trade network. a man will say to another, 'Give me an arrow, and if I kill something with it I will give the meat to you.'

hardpan river valleys

the soils consist of patches of bare rock alternating with patches of sand or mud. the baobab tree with its fruit and seed is the most important food found here

ju/'hoansi today

the tribe has been transformed from their society of foragers to a society of small-holders who eked out a living by herding, farming and craft production, along with some hunting and gathering. more political voice was attempted to be given to the ju/'hoansi to enable them opportunities to participate in local affairs, yet their opinions were often disregarded by the (local) Herero elites today they are becoming more similar to the white men who first visited them

revisionists

they argue that the ju/'hoansi's recent foraging ways bear no resemblance to the ancestral cultures of the later stone age and are merely a part of their culture of poverty. they see changes in the society as so catastrophic that the grounds of all previous understanding come to eventually be rejected and disregarded

NOTE

throughout this period (later stone age) hunters and gatherers pursued their way of life with no evidence of agriculture and minimal evidence of domesticated animals

NOTE

too much rainfall is also a problem for the ju/'hoansi

insulting the meat

when a hunter returns from a successful hunt or when meat is brought into a camp, the people often display indifference or negativity at the news of a successful kill insulted richard lee's kill that he brought back as a way of leveling. a man must be modest because the theme of modesty is present throughout their society insulting the meat is one of the central practices of the ju/'hoansi that serve to maintain egalitarianism. even though some men are much better hunters than others, their behavior is molded by the group to minimize the tendency toward self-praise and to channel their energies into socially beneficial activities

Tswana

The first Tswana inhabited the Dobe area in the 1870s, and was allocated the area by 1900. Together with the Hereros, they have built homesteads, deepened and fenced off the waterholes, and hired Ju men as laborers

perceptions of the white man

1960s-1970s, they viewed themselves as 'real' people and had a rther unflattering perception of the whites. today they call them Europeans the ju/'hoansi have also been fascinated with western technology such as trucks, airplanes, radios and tape recorders.

Kinship 3

Also known as Hawaiian every person has their own unique term. brothers and sisters - and then every single person has a distinct term. multiple names Toma, son of so and so, Toma the elder, etc. conflict resolved with the principle of wi, where the older person can decide what to call the younger person and thus decide which status that particular person holds

Kinship 2

Also known as Iroquois extended notion of fatherhood and motherhood beyond the nuclear family aunts/uncles have a sense of fatherhood and motherhood their children, rather than being cousins, are sons and daughters in many societies, if the husband dies the wife is encouraged to marry his brother and this is not a problem because multiple spouses are allowed. marriage is as much an emotional bond as it is a political bond the namesake kin is featured where there are no surnames, but names are inherited from ancestors according to a strict set of rules

foragers or foraging people

a convenient shorthand for groups with the adaptation for wild game hunting and gathering plant foods for human subsistence

n/um

a holy gift of spiritual energy

main feature of the Dobe area

a system of fixed longitudinal dunes running parallel to each other and oriented roughly east-west

ju kin relations

all ju kin relations are either joking or avoidance

kamasi

gift exchanges that mark the confirmation of a betrothal and it is a process of mutual gift exchanges.

k"ausi

groups of people who collectively own land or territories known as n!ores

time in the ju/'hoansi

mark time by interpersonal conflict (the year I had the fight with so and so) and conflict with neighboring people

overnight stops

only a fire is built and the site is abandoned the next morning

secondary prohibition

refers to anyone standing in a kinship relations that is more tense or formal (as opposed to a joking relationship). these rules limit a large proportion of potential spouses and parents to be selective of their daughter's mates

primary prohibitions

removes the possibility of marriage to a second or first cousin

deadly fighting

involves the use of fatal weapons such as poisoned arrows, spears and clubs. the poisoned arrows used in deadly fights are those that they use in hunting which can kill a two hundred kg animal within a day main parties involved belong to closely related living groups they often implicate those not involved in the original dispute they intensify swiftly results are unforeseeable almost always happens only between males only 22 cases of deadly fighting in lee's research period

saying thank you in Inuit culture

seen as insulting by saying that it makes them feel like slaves

gangwasi

the ghosts of deceased ju/'hoansi

spring and fall camps

these are called camps rather than villages; because of the dry weather no huts are built, and they are rarely occupied for more than two or three weeks. under certain circumstances similar short-term camps may also be established in summer when the group is moving from one foraging area to another

levels of conflict

three levels of conflict talking, fighting and deadly fighting

melapo

two subtypes can be distinguished here. the smaller melapo have compacted soils of light gray or buff. here are found dense thickets of small trees verging on forests. well-defined melapo, with gray, compacted, silty soils and occasional beds of hardpan, support many species of Acacia with their edible gums

Work relations

with the massive number of cattle, the Blacks and the Ju worked together managing the herds, receiving rewards in forms of wages, accommodation and food. For the Ju herdsmen, it was important that they were able to offer their relatives hospitality at the cattle post. like the ju/'hoansi, the Herero and Tswana lived in kin-based societies, placing high values on offering hospitality to visitors and neighbors, the work relation occasionally evolved into a clientship, which potentially grew into a life-long relationship